Eating healthily really DOES make you glow due to pigments in vegetables


Eating healthily really DOES make you glow due to pigments in vegetables such as carrots that give skin a yellow tone

  • Yellow skin tones come from carotenoids – which are found in plant pigments such as the orange carotene in carrots, scientists found
  • Study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, said these pigments have a vital role in the body as anti-oxidants
  • Authors suggest skin yellowness could be indicator of health by demonstrating the body has enough antioxidant reserves and low levels of oxidative toxins

Healthy people really do have a ‘golden glow’ – thanks to pigments in vegetables that give them a yellowish tinge.

Improving one’s fitness, a good diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, and getting enough sleep will do wonders for the complexion, scientists found.

And having a skin tone that has a touch of yellow indicated good health.

Scientists from St Andrews University monitored 134 participants over eight weeks for other possible reasons for a more golden glow, such as being outside more and having a suntan. 

The golden glow which comes from a healthier lifestyle comes from carotenoids – which are found in plant pigments such as the orange carotene in carrots, scientists have found

The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, said these pigments have a vital role in the body as anti-oxidants – neutralising toxins which would otherwise cause damage to the body’s structure. (File photo)

The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, said these pigments have a vital role in the body as anti-oxidants – neutralising toxins which would otherwise cause damage to the body’s structure. (File photo)

But this did not account for the increase in a golden glow which came from a healthier lifestyle.

The yellow tones come from carotenoids – which are found in plant pigments such as the orange carotene in carrots.

The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, said these pigments have a vital role in the body as anti-oxidants – neutralising toxins which would otherwise cause damage to the body’s structure. 

The authors suggest skin yellowness could be an indicator of a person’s health by demonstrating that the body has enough antioxidant reserves and low levels of oxidative toxins.

Increased psychological stress and a loss of sleep were also associated with a reduction in skin yellowness.

Lead scientist David Perrett said: ‘We were surprised to find that the skin colour changes accompanying change in health occurred quite quickly.’